Another Russian Oil Refinery Engulfed In Fire After Drone Attack From Ukraine

Ukraine government sources have continued to boast of launching drone and missile strikes deep into Russian territory, targeting especially the country’s energy infrastructure.

Reuters on Thursday cited an unidentified Ukrainian source to say that a successful drone attack was carried out against a Rosneft-owned oil refinery in southern Russia on the Black Sea. Local authorities acknowledged the fresh attack, describing that it set off a fire which though appeared very large, was reportedly quickly extinguished.

Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, the Russian Rosneft oil refinery is currently burning. pic.twitter.com/zXAs9awYQ0

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 24, 2024

The export-oriented unit in the town of Tuapse was impacted in the strike, with the head of Tuapse district describing, “The vacuum unit was on fire. According to preliminary information, there were neither casualties nor injured.” The attack also appeared confirmed by widely circulating social media images.

The Ukrainian source said it was the work of Ukraine’s security services (SBU), which has alongside the military launched probably literally of hundreds such cross-border attacks since the war began nearly two years ago.

The Tuapse plant has an annual capacity of 12 million metric tons (or averaging 240,000 barrels per day) and supplies fuel chiefly to China, Turkey, Malaysia and Singapore, Reuters noted.

Ukraine kicked off the week with an earlier significant attack on Russia’s energy infrastructure, resulting in Novatek having announced it was forced to suspend some operations at its huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal on Sunday due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack at the PJSC gas-condensate plant in the port Ust-Luga.

That had also been the result of a special operation carried out by the SBU, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency emphasized.

These spate of attacks in recent days and weeks targeting Russian energy facilities, raise questions about the quality of Russian air defense systems around key infrastructure facilities, or if they are present at all for that matter.

Russian oil exports made up about 30% of the country’s budget revenues. As of 2023, Russia became China’s number one oil supplier, taking the top spot long held by Saudi Arabia.

“The current attacks are still small in size, using a handful of drones, but already caused considerable damage. When Ukraine starts mass-hitting those ports, then the Russian air defense will not be able to stop the outcome.”https://t.co/rXR0nyPYF0

— Janusz Bugajski (@JBugajskiUSA) January 25, 2024

Kiev is actively seeking to impose a cost on this vital Russian industry needed to fuel its ongoing military operations in Ukraine:

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service told the Kyiv Post that the successful assault on the oil terminal in Ust-Luga “not only inflicts substantial economic harm on the enemy, disrupting their revenue streams for the war in Ukraine, but also disrupts the logistical chain of fuel essential to the Russian military.

“This move strategically hampers the occupiers’ ability to sustain their forces, marking a significant setback in their ongoing aggression,” the source added.

However, there are little to no signs of setback along the frontlines, and in the Donbass, where Russia’s military grip over territory hasn’t really changed over the past six months to a year.